Hi everyone! As promised I'm updating today! Thanks everyone for your reviews and support!!!
Oh, a reviewer reminded me that way back when I said I wasn't sure if I'd have Deidara be a guy or girl in this story. They also reminded me f how stupid that idea was, seeing as how Mai is supposed to be THE girl member in this story. I was confused about Dei's gender way back when, and therefore stupid is all. But Dei is definitely a guy in my fic.
Discliamer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in Naruto, including any members of Akatsuki. Masashi Kishimoto does. I do own a few rights to the Hoshikori family which I made up, however all concepts of chakra(which is Buddhist) and all other Naruto related themes in the story are obviously not mine. And of course, if anyone should so choose, they can feel free to use Mai or any other characters for their own constructs- just please ask me first.
Dusk and Daybreak
Chapter
8: The Seal
Mai sat in the hospital waiting room, her mother and Akeno sitting stoically beside her. Her father meanwhile was finding out everything he could about what exactly had happened from the ANBU who found Yugito- his angry yells could be heard from the room he'd borrowed to speak with the ANBU. None of Mai's family had been allowed in to see Yugito yet, as they were told she was in intensive care, and could have no visitors unless she was stabilized. And so Mai sat there, her mother holding back tears as she tried to control her body racked with sobs, her brother looking terrified and probably not understanding half of what was going on.
Finally Eiji emerged from the room, Mai starting, shocked at his appearance, as he closed the door behind him. The flood of tears that had welled up in her eyes poured down her face as she was assured of the worst by Eiji's solemn countenance. Mai jumped out of her seat without thinking, and ran towards Yugito's room.
"Mai, wait.." Eiji's voice came out as a tired, gruff whisper as he turned quickly to Midori. "Yugito-san will live. It took all of our skill, but we were able to stabilize her. Daisuke-sama doesn't want anybody going in yet though; he said Yugito-san needs time to recover."
Mai stopped with her hand on the doorknob, and returned to the hard seat she'd been waiting in for the past 7 hours. Mai's mother slowly composed herself, then got up to inform Akio that their daughter was out of danger.
Mai watched her mother go. "Eiji.. thank you for helping to save my sister.." She spoke quietly, head bowed in gratitude.
"It was nothing Mai." Eiji said, coming to sit in the seat Mai's mother had left. "When I heard what happened, I knew I had to help… After all, Daisuke-sama can only do so much on his own. We nearly ran out of chakra- and healing techniques that could save her- while trying to heal her though. Yugito-san was messed up pretty bad Mai. That's the real reason Daisuke-sama and I didn't want you all going in to see her. But Mai, there was a strange shaped burn on her stomach… Even with our healing jutsus, the mark wouldn't completely go away, and even Daisuke-sama was baffled. He said it must've been a birthmark or some sort of high-level sealing jutsu, but either one doesn't sound right. I know you're worked up right now, but I was just concerned about it was all- do you know anything about it?."
Mai took a moment to register what he'd said, and then shook her head slowly. "No… you now how Yugito loves to wear those tiny little shirts so everyone can see her stomach," Mai shook her head again, this time in disgust, "and I've never seen anything on her stomach. Oh God, imagine if she got a tattoo or something?! I mean, Otousama and Okaasama allowed me, but only because of ANBU- and Otousama was pretty angry even about that. You don't think she'd do something so stupid, do you?!" Mai turned to Eiji, terror-stricken.
"No, it didn't seem like a tattoo, so don't worry about Yugito-san." Eiji sighed, holding Mai's hand a patting it. "It just bothers me that I don't know what it is… And that Daisuke-sama didn't know either.. I mean, he should know the difference between a sealing jutsu and a birthmark, being the head medic-nin of the village.. But after he told me what it could be, he didn't really want to discuss it anymore."
Eiji stared off into space for a moment, then patted Mai's hand again. "Ah well, he was tired I'm sure… Um, Mai, I hate to do this, but you wouldn't mind if I went home to rest, would you? We used up so much chakra healing Yugito, I can barely stand." Eiji laughed.
"Oh, no, of course, go home! I'm sorry if you thought I was keeping you!.. No.. I know you must be tired after all you did- I'm just so thankful that you saved her Eiji. I'll see you tomorrow then I guess. …We have a mission after all.." Mai sighed tiredly, and walked with Eiji to the stairwell.
Akio and Midori returned to the waiting area, Akio looking as though he were ready to rip someone's head off. Once Mai had seen Eiji off, she quickly returned to her seat, but was stopped from sitting down by her father's stern voice. "Mai. It's late; you have a mission tomorrow. Take your brother home, and see to it that your brothers and sister are fed dinner. Your mother and I will join you after we've seen Yugito." There was no arguing with an order like that, and Mai promptly grabbed Akeno's hand and led him out of the hospital.
"So what did the ANBU say?.." "Nothing much Midori. It was like pulling teeth to get them to say anything, but they didn't seem to know much. They were heading back from a mission in the Ame no Kuni (Land of Rain), had to cut across the edge of Kusa no Kuni (Land of Grass) to get back, and just happened to run across Yugito's squad. It seems they were attacked by either elite jounin or an ANBU squad from Kusagakure, and when our ANBU arrived on the scene, everyone but Yugito was dead. Seems she put up a good fight though, because they also found a Kusagakure shinobi a little ways off. The strange thing was though -and none of us can figure it out- all the bodies on Yugito's team were stripped. Stark naked."
Midori looked at him, shock and disgust clouding her face and Akio quickly continued. "Oh.. no, Yugito wasn't though. The ANBU said it appeared they'd started to strip her, her shirt was ripped half off, and they took her weapons and all, but they didn't completely strip her like the others.. They disposed of the other bodies, and healed Yugito the best they could, then got her back here. And that was all they knew."
"Well, at least she won't die. I was so worried. But you know, that boy, Eiji-kun, he really did everything he possibly could for her."
"Yeah, I suppose the kid isn't half bad. I just wish he wasn't a medic-nin. I don't know, it seems a bit degrading if you ask me. But yeah, he's an okay kid."
"You know Akio dear, you really should tell Mai that that boy was your second choice, when the Mitsuko clan told you they had prior arrangements for their heir.."
Akio laughed. "Yeah, those weirdoes and their incest… Heh, but no. I like that Mai thinks I'm doing her some great service by allowing her to marry that boy. It keeps them in line; if they push the limits, they'll be afraid of me breaking off the engagement. I think I'll keep things the way they are."
"Fine, but you know I really don't agree…" Midori trailed off, knowing it was a lost cause, and focusing instead on her anxiety to see her daughter.
"Midori, it was an attempt on her life, plain and simple. And not just that, but an attempt to capture the Nibi. I don't know how they could've known about it, or how they knew how to destroy that seal, but I've had enough! There is no way that girl is going on any more missions, and I don't care what the Raikage says!!" Mai closed the book she had been reading, and dispelled her jutsu, plunging her room into darkness. She quietly got off the bed, concealing her chakra, and walked over to her door, listening to her parents' conversation as they came in from the hospital.
"Well, but you and Daisuke-san were able to reseal the Nibi and all, so no worries… And the old seal hadn't even been destroyed so at least those Kusa-nin didn't get what they came for. I just feel bad about poor Yugito.. She looked so terrible, even after they worked on her for so long…"
"The seal is only a temporary one, Midori. I never thought I'd have to reseal the damned thing, the Sandaime Raikage assured it was permanent. I never bothered to learn any higher level sealing jutsus… And don't even start in Midori, because I'm not going to entrust the life of a member of this family with that bastard they have for Raikage now!.." Akio paced back and forth aimlessly for a few moments, then sat down heavily on the sofa, before getting right back up again. "We're going to have to arrange to bring her to another village to get a new permanent seal put on. This one should last long enough for me to arrange something, but we're going to have no choice." Akio turned angrily from the room and walked down the hall. "I'm going to bed. Don't wake me in the morning Midori, I have a splitting headache."
Mai quickly shut her door and let out a small gasp. Nothing seemed right with the world. The Nibi was a Biju, right?.. Well then why were her parents talking about Yugito, and it being sealed in her? It was impossible. From the little Mai had heard of jinchuuriki, they all acted crazy- and sure, Yugito could be a bit wild sometimes, and maybe a bit ditsy on occasions, but it was just a normal teenage phase. Yugito was the most normal teenage girl Mai could think of; her sister couldn't have a Biju inside of her. After all, she would have told Mai- they told each other everything- though Mai was starting to have her doubts.
Mai didn't sleep at all that night. In the morning, before she was to report in to ANBU Headquarters, she stopped by the hospital and sat with Yugito for an hour. The entire time, Yugito was unconscious, and so didn't even know she had stayed with her- yet the time there did give Mai a chance to take at look at Yugito's stomach, to try to see he burn everyone had been discussing the day before. There were cuts and bruises, but aside from that, Mai saw nothing out of the ordinary. The nurse came back in just as Mai was sitting back down at the bedside, and instead, she thanked the nurse and took her leave.
"Yo, Mai!" Taiki called out, waving as she entered the building. He and Eiji quickly made their way over. "I sure as hell didn't think your control-freak father would let you out of the house for a month after what happened! I can't believe you're actually here for the mission!" Taiki smiled.
Mai turned and glared at Eiji, hurt. "What, did you tell like the entire village my sister was hurt?.. My parents wanted to keep it quiet.." Eiji's hands flew up in defense. "I swear Mai, I didn't say a thing to anyone- I didn't know how you felt about the whole matter and it wasn't my place to tell anyone, not even Taiki.." He looked at her pleadingly.
"But..but then where the heck did you hear about my sister's injury from Taiki?.." Mai turned back to Taiki, not even taking the time to reply to Eiji. "Eh, my father was talking about it with one of his friends last night when we had some guests for dinner. Heck, if you don't want anyone else to know though, I swear, I won't tell anyone else… And my father had a diplomatic mission today, so he won't be able to talk about it either."
"Good… thanks Taiki- and Eiji. I'm sorry I got all defensive like that, I didn't mean to. It's just that, well, you saw her injuries Eiji. And last night when my parents came in, I heard them talking and-"
"Everyone, ready to move out?" Isamu-san suddenly appeared behind the two boys, and Mai cut herself off mid-sentence. There was unspoken agreement between the three friends that they would resume this conversation later, whenever they could find time alone. In the meantime, Mai started back up talking, so as not to seem strange to Isamu-san. "So anyway Taiki, my father didn't have any problem with me going on this mission. After all, it's only to Sunagakure anyway, and it should be easy, right?" Mai babbled on with Taiki and Eiji as they walked towards the village gates.
Yugito woke up and looked around her, unable to recognize her surroundings. A haze seemed to fill her field of vision. She sat up groggily, and stared around the empty room, confused. 'Where the hell am I?... Ugh..'
A sudden pain shot through Yugito's head and stomach, and her hands flew to clutch her wounds- the medics hadn't had enough chakra to heal everything perfectly. After feeling the scabbing on her head, memories of the mission flooded back into her mind. Still confused, and mind a bit fuzzy from the painkillers, she was able to gather only that she must be in the hospital, healing, and her teammates must be in rooms nearby.
Yugito calmed down, and began settling back into the soft downy pillows of the bed, the beeping of the EKG machine lulling her back to sleep. Suddenly, a figure flitted by the edge of her field of vision. Yugito sat bolt upright, and stared to her left, but nothing was there. 'I know I saw something move.. What the hell is going on- is it genjutsu?!..' She tried releasing whatever genjutsu might be cast on her, a tried to calm her senses back down. That is, until a black figure came straight at her, her cries of help going unheard.
Oooh, a cliffhanger!!! Anybody get what's going on with Yugito-san? Read up on the Nibi, and you might get it... If not, wait till next chapter. :)
And review!! I need to know how I'm doing!!
